JULY 2012

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(Posted Fri. Jul 20th, 2012)

July 20: This week, grower leaders and staff from state and national corn associations gathered in Washington D.C. for a series of team and committee meetings, Capitol Hill visits with lawmakers and the semi-annual Corn Congress, where grower-leaders from 28 states elected four new members of the National Corn Growers Association Corn Board.

During proceedings, Corn Congress delegates ratified Martin Barbre, an Illinois grower, to serve as the new first vice president elect for the 2013 fiscal year. Additionally, the delegates elected Anthony Bush of Ohio, Don Elsbernd of Iowa and Kevin Skunes of North Dakota. Current board members Keith Alverson of South Dakota and Mike Geske of Missouri were re-elected.

“Each year, we have a terrific slate of candidates for the Corn Board, growers who have already had an impressive career of volunteer service for American agriculture,” NCGA Chairman Bart Schott, who chairs the nominating committee, said. “It’s inspiring to see such an interest on the part of these growers, especially at a time when our industry faces so many challenges. They are all going to be a great addition to the board, and do great things for all farmers.”

For more information about the fiscal year 2013 Corn Board members elected this week, click here.

For more information on newly ratified 2013 NCGA First Vice President Elect Martin Barbre, click here.

The NCGA Corn Board represents the organization on all matters while directing both policy and supervising day-to-day operations. Board members represent the federation of state organizations, supervise the affairs and activities of NCGA in partnership with the chief executive officer and implement NCGA policy established by the Corn Congress. Members also act as spokespeople for the NCGA and enhance the organization’s public standing on all organizational and policy issues.

The week kicked off with action team and committee meetings during which each group carefully considered the current issues and opportunities most relevant to farmers in their target area. Specifically, the farmer-led teams discussed changing situations, and the possible ramifications of these changes, in areas including public policy, ethanol, biotechnology, government regulation, trade and grower services. After both discussion and expert presentation, the teams decided upon any policy changes to recommend to Corn Congress as a whole for adoption.

For more information on the NCGA action team and committee meetings, click here.

Following the action team and committee meetings, the 127 delegate body of Corn Congress convened to review NCGA policy and elect the aforementioned leadership. During this session, the delegates reviewed current organizational policy, demonstrating their support by making few substantive policy changes.

During Corn Congress, attendees enjoyed presentations from industry and government notables including Sharon Bomer Lauritsen from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, U.S. Grains Council Chairman Wendell Shauman and Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, who NCGA honored with the 2012 President’s Award for her work advancing issues important to growers and agriculture.

For more information on NCGA’s President’s Award and Sen. Stabenow, click here.

For nearly a full working day, delegates, staff and attendees deepened their interaction with the federal government through visits to their state’s House and Senate legislation on Capitol Hill. Lobbying for the swift passage of a farm bill and stressing the importance of ethanol to our nation’s rural economies and energy security, these delegations took grower concerns directly to federal legislators.